Can I use a few seconds of copyrighted music in my production without having to pay royalties?

As a royalty free music business, we get asked many questions about copyright. There are numerous people that believe they can legally use up to 30 seconds of music without any legal repercussions and without having to seek clearance or a license.

Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news…. This is simply not true and a bit of a modern myth.

Copyright law is complex and varies in different countries. US copyright law in particular, has a fair use clause, whereas here in the UK, there is no such clause.

This fair use copyright clause is misinterpreted by many who think that using up to 30 seconds of music is legal. The fact is that any use of music needs to be cleared or licensed. Even where copyright law includes a fair use policy the legal interpretation can vary considerably.

For instance, using a 10 second music clip as an intro to your podcast would probably not be classed as fair use, whereas using a 10 second snippet to critique a piece of music may be seen as fair use in copyright law. However, never assume you are covered by fair use copyright as there is no guarantee you will be safe.

I once heard an American music lawyer say… “When your use of music gets challenged you need a defence; having a license is always your best defence. If your defence is ‘fair use’ this will probably not be sufficient to save you in court.”

She went on to say that it is not worth the risk in nearly all cases.

A good rule of thumb is that it is not OK to use any amount of copyrighted music without permission from the rights owner or a music license. If you do feel fair use applies you will need to study the fair use guidelines for the copyright policy of your jurisdiction and to be completely sure you would need a music lawyer to confirm your belief for your particular circumstance.

About the Author

I am Lee Pritchard, the co-founder and project director of Media Music Now and a number of other online businesses.

Since 1999 I have been involved in the internet. I have seen a lot of changes and learned a lot too. I have a life long passion for music; composing it, playing it, producing it and being around others who are involved in it. I am also experienced in website development and internet marketing.

Acording to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Act_of_1976, there are four factors to be considered
1. the purpose of use
2. the nature of the copyrighted work
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion of the original work
4. the effect of use upon the market

I do not think you would. You are not going to be selling it, so you would not make a profit off someone elses work.

I’m writing a trivia game software application in which the user can add audio and images. I need to create a tutorial in which the user will be guided through the creation of a trivia game about The Beatles. I’d like to include images and music written by The Beatles. While the images I’ll choose are in the public domain, the songs may not be. However, I will not use recordings of entire songs, only short clips or “excerpts.” Do I need permission from the songs’ copyright owner to do this?